Saving Epiphany Church

Since 1886, the landmark Church of the Epiphany has stood at the corner of Sichel and Altura streets. It has been through religious services and weddings, community meetings and events, and a period of great transformation in the middle of the 20th century, when Lincoln Heights evolved from white professional enclave into an important Mexican immigrant community.

… Emi Fontana, the director of the arts nonprofit West of Rome, and Rita Gonzalez, a contemporary art curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), have gathered works by roughly three dozen high-profile artists for a benefit auction on Aug. 23 that will raise funds for restoration expenses.

“It’s a glorious place,” says Gonzalez, who, like Fontana, is donating her time to the effort. “The first time I saw the church I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’ve never been in here before!’ It’s a hidden architectural gem, plus it has the whole history of the Chicano movement. This is a really important place.”